


Shelter

by BambiRex



Series: Garden Lodge Family Shenanigans [11]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Genderbending, Nightmares, fem!queen, garden lodge family shenanigans, king!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29754321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BambiRex/pseuds/BambiRex
Summary: The night offered many terrors, but the light always drowned out the darkness.
Relationships: Jim Hutton/Freddie Mercury
Series: Garden Lodge Family Shenanigans [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767487
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Shelter

**Author's Note:**

> Another random update! No, I haven't abandoned this series, either, I was just caught up in other stuff. This whole fic is pretty random and kind of pointless lmao I just wanted to write some self-indulgent comfort fic, so here!

Layla was only a few weeks old when she had her first bad dream. 

Babies started developing their imaginary skills very early on after their birth, sucking information in from the world around them and storing it away at a surprisingly fast pace. Most people think they don’t have much in their little brains around that time, but they are always learning, their minds expanding day by day, minute by minute. Layla was building her little imaginary world already, and sometimes that world looked a little scary- as an innocent, young being, the scariest thing that could happen in her dreams was calling out to Mummy or Mama, and neither of them coming. She woke up, abruptly, crying out for real in the hope that someone will hear her this time, that she wouldn’t be alone in the dark.

They always came- sometimes both parents rushed in to see what was going on, sometimes it was Mummy, putting her on her chest to see if she was hungry; sometimes it was Mama, holding her in her strong arms and rocking her gently. Sometimes, even her Aunts came to check on her. She wasn’t alone- there was so much love around her, and so she never had to worry about her cries not being heard.

As she grew, the dreams became more vivid, scarier, as she experienced and comprehended more of the world. Sometimes she saw evil monsters crawling out from under her bed or from her closet, and she woke up screaming, begging for someone to chase the monsters away.

‘’There’s nothing in here, see?” Mama told her softly, opening and closing the door to her closet. She even used a flashlight for good measure. ‘’No monsters here. Nothing can hurt you while we are around.”

‘’Go back to sleep, my little Princess.” Mummy cooed to her, holding her close and stroking her hair, just the way Layla liked it. ‘’You’re going to have sweet dreams now.”

Freddie and Jane often lay with Layla until she fell back asleep, holding her in their arms. They were right: after they tiptoed back to their bedroom, Layla had easier, sweeter dreams without monsters. She dreamt about fun days with her family, and about that little brother she was going to meet in a few days…

\--

Layla felt responsible for Gabriel. He was so small and fragile, and Layla swore to protect him from any danger- even from nightmares. Because Gabriel had a lot of them, especially in the first few months. He woke up screaming and sobbing, disoriented. Layla would always do what her mothers did: she took her little brother into her arms and rocked him gently, telling him everything was going to be okay. She stroked his hair and whispered into his ears, sometimes even humming to him quietly. More often than not, Layla’s gentle ministrations calmed him down even before Freddie and Jane arrived to take care of the situation. 

‘’Why do we have bad dreams?” Layla asked her family one morning, while they were sitting at the dining table having their breakfast. ‘’Why can’t we only have nice dreams?”

Freddie gently ruffled her hair, pulling her close. ‘’You see, unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen to us. And sometimes, we remember those things while we sleep- they come back to haunt us. We also have very vivid imaginations, so we often dream about things that are not real, like monsters. It’s hard to explain, our brain works in very strange ways.”

‘’Do you have bad dreams, too?”

Freddie sighed. She didn’t really want to get into the gory details of her long-repressed sexuality, feeling like she was bringing shame to her family, and the monsters those old feelings created, chasing her in her dreams- or, about the exes who hurt her, and left scars way too deep. But Layla seemed worried, and it was her duty, as her mother, to soothe her.

‘’I do, sometimes. I used to be very sad when I was a kid, and I dream about that. I dream about being alone, your Mama leaving me.”

‘’She would never leave you!” Layla told her, touching Freddie’s face to placate her. ‘’She loves you lots!”

‘’She definitely does.” Jane cooed, kissing the top of Freddie’s head. ‘’I would never leave your Mummy. As long as I have anything to say about it, she will never be alone.”

‘’What do you dream about, Mama?”

‘’When I have bad dreams, they are often very strange.” Jane explained with a chuckle. ‘’Like, a herd of sheep going feral and attacking me. Or the toaster coming to life and yelling at me.”

‘’What!?” Freddie burst out laughing. ‘’You never told me about these!”

‘’Because they are silly!” Jane chuckled. She gently flicked Layla’s nose, who was laughing as well. ‘’We all have bad dreams, sometimes. Kids, adults, everyone. Even those who seem happy and calm all the time.”

‘’Like Aunt Phoebe?”

‘’Yeah, sometimes I dream about someone stealing my nail polish…oh wait, that actually happened.” Phoebe snickered from besides the oven, sending a pointed look towards Freddie who pretended to be innocent. Turning more serious, she continued. ‘’I do, actually, dream about getting mugged or being attacked often.”

‘’I dream about fighting with my family.” Jenny added. ‘’Or reliving the death of an old pet.”

Layla seemed to be satisfied with the answers, for now. Apparently, she wasn’t alone with those terrible nightmares.

‘’And what do you do, when you have bad dreams like that?” Layla asked. ‘’Because you can’t call your own parents to help you.”

‘’We hug each other.” Jane said. Her and Freddie always found shelter with each other; if any of them had a bad dream, they could just cling to the other until the memories faded away again. She held Freddie against her chest, shushing her while her wife sobbed, fingers gripping Jane’s shirt. Other times, it was her that needed the reassurance, curling around Freddie to feel her placating warmth. That was the easiest way to return back to sweet reality: clinging to those you loved, holding them and being held by them until you made sure nothing could harm you again. They held each other, and they held their kids, when they were the ones waking up in a cold sweat. Hell, before Layla was born, and sometimes they all passed out on the couch down in the living room, they even cuddled with Phoebe and Jenny. Being scared was a human feeling, something that needed a soothing touch, no matter how old you were.

\--

There came a time when the kids were too old to scream for their parents, but they still needed the reassurance. Funny twist of fate it was that they both had a nightmare on that night, waking up frustrated and sad.

‘’You too?” Gabriel asked, rolling onto his side to face his sister. Layla nodded, rubbing at her cheeks.

‘’I don’t think I can go back to sleep. Not now.”

Gabriel nodded. He had a terrible dream of his mothers throwing him out onto the street. He clutched the blanket tighter against him. All he needed was his mothers’ gentle embrace- and he was sure Layla needed it, too.

He jumped off the bed and pulled a confused Layla to her feet. ‘’Let’s go.”

‘’Where are we going?”

‘’To the bedroom. I need to hug them, don’t you need it? And if they won’t come here, we can go to them. Remember what Mama always says?”

‘’She always says there’s shelter for everyone who’s having bad dreams, and that we shouldn’t feel ashamed of needing comfort, or something like that.”

‘’Exactly.”

They tiptoed to Freddie and Jane’s room, peering inside. They always left the door ajar, in case someone needed a bit of comfort after a nightmare. Freddie stirred when she heard socked little feet on the carpet, turning on the bedside lamp. She smiled when she spotted her kids, hand in hand.

‘’Bad dreams?” She asked softly, already opening her arms. Jane woke next to her, sitting up against the pillows with a yawn. Gabriel climbed into Freddie’s lap, while Layla clung to Jane.

‘’Sorry we woke you up,” Layla whispered. ‘’Gabriel had a bad dream, but I couldn’t comfort him this time because I had one, too…”

‘’It’s okay.” Jane shushed her. ‘’We will keep you safe.”

‘’Everything is going to be okay.” Freddie added, kissing Gabriel’s forehead. ‘’We’re here.”

The kids smiled, burrowing deeper into the protective little nest. The night offered many terrors, but the light always drowned out the darkness: they had their mothers who would keep them safe from any monster, from any bad memory. No one at Garden Lodge had to be scared: there was plenty of shelter for everyone.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a scenario that you would like me to turn into a fic for this series, you can suggest it here in the comments, or on my tumblr, @bambirexwrites! :))


End file.
